One way to navigate the treacherous waters of the anything-goes-style sea is to moor yourself to a brand you trust, a brand that aligns with your aesthetic sensibility, a brand with codes you can get behind and business practices you respect. For me, for the past 10 years or so, Our Legacy has been that brand. Since I first discovered it on the racks of an NYC boutique a decade ago, the independent Swedish label has been sating my fashion cravings, often by making exactly what I need before I realize that I need it. During my staid grad-school years, Our Legacy's sturdy blue oxford shirts were my go-to. But as I relax into a more expressive decade of style, my most recent Our Legacy acquisitions veer toward the adventurous: a tangerine-orange chenille V-neck sweater, an overdyed navy silk shirt that billows like a sail when I walk.
“The fashion landscape looks very different now than it did when we started 15 years ago,” says Jockum Hallin, who founded the brand with his partners, Richardos Klareén and Cristopher Nying. “But it still is our curiosity for developing the new that sets the course.”
Our Legacy consistently makes the best of what you don't need to overthink—like those oxford shirts, as well as classic tees and sweats, basic suiting, and jeans and chinos. But increasingly the new is where the brand thrives, and for my money, Our Legacy knitwear is where it's at.
Perhaps Our Legacy's most distinctive products are its innovative iterations of the humble sweater. There is always the right balance of the familiar and the far-out. Highlights for this fall include a sheer viscose-and-metal-mesh (yes, metal) crewneck, a lush wool-and-alpaca V-neck in buttery citron, and a “Smudge Fair Isle” that resembles an Impressionist landscape.
“The sharp wools, together with the trashed and fragile fabrics, create an interesting clash between the bourgeois and the youth,” says Nying, summing up exactly what makes the brand so appealing. “Sometimes our concepts are strong,” he says. “But the idea is to stay true to your own culture and to explore it.” So wherever you fit along the bourgeois-youth spectrum, there's an Our Legacy sweater that's right for you.
A conversation with Hallin might cover everything from skateboarding and '90s hardcore to raising a family and plant-based diets. Our Legacy, in kind, offers something a little wild and something a little stable. “There are many different facets of Our Legacy,” Hallin says. “It's up to each individual to paint their own picture.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the October 2019 issue with the title "The Transcendent Sweaters of Our Legacy."
